Tribute to Issa Shivji on his retirement from University of Dar es Salaam (2)

My first meeting with Issa Shivji was his book “Silent Class Struggle in Tanzania!, when I was a student of Africa studies in Tokyo, studying African Socialism. I later met him at the University of Dar es Salaam for several occasions during my Ph.D study on the economic liberalisation and the land question in Tanzania. Prof. Shivji was then appointed as the Chairman of the Land Commission in Tanzania. Many of us wondered why him? I remember that I had stimulating discussions on land issues with him at his office in the Land Commission and at his home. I had closely followed the work of the Land Commission, and then a surprise came that a new land policy drafted by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Policy was released.

Recently, it was a happy surprise for me to meet Issa Shivji in Pumbazuka news in my office in Harare. His articles on globalisation and liberalisation reminded me of him from old days. This does not mean that Shivji’s thoughts have been stagnating without progress since 1970s. The world surrounding us has greatly changed and so did many of our colleagues around us and ourselves. But Shivji is the Shivji I know. His writings are refreshing than ever. It was as if he was fighting a lonely struggle, but the fact that many people will be celebrating the publication of his new book means that this is not the case.

I congratulate for his past work and his new book, and I will be waiting for his next work.